Lebanon, Israel, and US Sign Trilateral Pact, Paving Way for Peace Agreement

Lebanon and Israel, alongside the United States, have signed a trilateral framework pact intended to pave the way for a peace agreement between the long-hostile Middle Eastern neighbours. The pact, reported by AFP on Saturday, is the result of five rounds of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, mediated by the US. The agreement, signed on Friday, includes a pilot programme under which the Lebanese army will take over two areas occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming the Hezbollah group. “The pact begins to put a framework in place for lasting peace and security,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the signing ceremony in Washington DC. “This is the beginning of a beginning. There is still much work to be done going forward,” he added. Lebanon was represented at the ceremony by its ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad. “This is a first step towards restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, achieving a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, and enabling our people to return to their land,” Moawad stated. Israel was represented by its ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, who declared that under the pact, “Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the path to peace between Israel and Lebanon is wide open.” The US, acting as mediator, was represented by State Department Counsellor Daniel Holler, with Secretary Rubio attending as a witness. Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict on 2 March by launching rocket attacks into Israel in retaliation for the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli strike. Tel Aviv responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion of Lebanon. Israeli forces have recently continued to occupy a large area of southern Lebanon, where their attacks have triggered massive destruction of homes and buildings. According to the agreement released by the US State Department on Friday evening, Lebanon and Israel “declare their intention to end the conflict conclusively, address its root causes, and thereby formally end the state of war between the two parties.” The deal also establishes a process by which the Lebanese Armed Forces will restore “sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory,” pending the “verified disarmament of non-state armed groups,” specifically Hezbollah. This, according to the trilateral pact, will in turn allow the Israel Defence Forces to “gradually withdraw from Lebanese territory.” Despite the agreement, the hostile parties of Israel and Hezbollah have made it clear that significant differences remain.